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| LEGISLATIVE REPORT #2 |
January 26, 2006 |
J. Pat Thompson
Deputy Director
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"Rule of 90" bill introduced
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AS previously reported, the Select Committee on Pension Policy (SCPP) has recommended House Bill 2679 and Senate Bill 6445 to the full legislature. This bill is the most beneficial pension bill we’ve seen in several years, partially because it is the simplest to understand.
HB 2679/SB 6445 would simply allow anyone whose age plus years of service that equal ‘90’ to retire with an unreduced benefit. This bill differs from last year’s version because it is retroactive for all current employees. Example: Current employees who are 60 years old with 30 years of service would be able to retire with full retirement benefits.
In a short session, time is critical. Please contact your legislators and ask them to support the bill. Please call the following three lawmakers in addition to your own legislators:
~ Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000 ~
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Feel free to include your own personal message about the hardship created for employees as well as employers under the current age 65 minimum under PERS II. Working to 65 years old and beyond 30 years is simply not realistic in many public occupations.
Gain-sharing:
Amend it, don't end it
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Council 2 has opposed any and all efforts to repeal gain-sharing without an adequate tradeoff. We have worked with the Select Committee on Pension Policy for well over a year to find a compromise, but we have yet to hear anything positive from the Governor’s office or House and Senate Leadership. Last year we were told to wait until next year and this year we’re getting rumblings that they want to delay yet again.
Please contact your legislators and the lawmakers mentioned above and tell them you oppose the repeal of gain-sharing and want the issue dealt with this session.
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Gain-sharing solutions offered
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HB 3183/SB 6795
The Select Committee on Pension Policy has offered the above bills as a solution to the gain-sharing dilemma. As reported last year, the State faces a huge liability as a result of their own miscalculations regarding this benefit.
By way of background, the State created the gain-sharing benefit in 1998 as a lure to move people into Plan III. The tenets of gain-sharing are fairly simple. If the investment returns on pension funds are over 10% during a four year period, employees and employers would split everything over 10% 50/50 (equally sharing in the gain). At the time, this benefit was not expected to cost anything. They were wrong. The new State Actuary tells us that the employer must pre-fund this benefit and set aside nearly $200 million per year so the money is available when it’s needed.
The emphasis on HB 3183/SB 6795 is meant to allow employees who switched to Plan III a chance to buy back a guaranteed pension benefit.
Many of us are paying higher premiums and increased taxes because the uninsured (even those working) are without health care and rely on the State and emergency rooms to provide it. Along came a "secret" report that reveals that taxpayers have paid $9 million to provide Wal-Mart employees with health care in 2004 alone!
The Legislature is considering legislation (HB 2517, SB 6356), which would require Wal-Mart and other large employers to contribute more toward the cost of employee healthcare.
New figures show that 11 percent of Washington Wal-Mart employees are in the adult Medicaid program. That’s more than double the figure Wal-Mart claimed existed in a recent internal memo. Another 11 percent of the company’s employees have children enrolled in the Medicaid kids program.
A majority of Wal-Mart’s employees who are Medicaid beneficiaries were working full-time (35+ hours per week). At Wal-Mart’s average wage of $9.68 an hour, full-time employees can qualify for Medicaid in Washington. Workers at the other companies on the list were primarily part-time workers.
The Legislative Conference held Thursday, January 19 through Saturday, January 21 was a success.
More than 150 members, their guests and Council 2 staff attended the events throughout the weekend. The weekend started with a reception Thursday evening. Legislators and local politicians were in attendance to meet with their constituents. There was a good turnout of legislators considering our reception was one of several they were attending that evening.
Friday everyone was off to meet with their legislators and tour the capital. Unfortunately, both the House and Senate were in caucus meeting with the Governor, so we didn’t get to meet with as many of them as in past years.
Upon returning to the hotel, Council 2 hosted a lunch with Governor Gregoire as the guest speaker. Following lunch, Rhonda Hilyar of Agreement Dynamics presented an excellent workshop on Success Signals (communication tools). She explained four different communication styles and gave examples of how to best communicate between them to be the most effective in our workplaces/negotiations and personal relationships. Locals 275 and 618 hosted a Hospitality Room that evening giving members a chance to get to know one another better and exchange ideas for their workplace issues.
Saturday was a busy day full of meetings: Women’s Action Committee, Legislative Committee and Executive Board Committee meeting.
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Legislative report
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